Walking or progressing toy.



A. MURRAY & G. A. J. MARLEY.

WALKING 0R PROGRESSING TOY.

APPLICATION FILED ABR.14. 1917.

INVENTORS flzerzlwww" @eorge. c/9'.

WITNESSES A. MURRAY 81 G. A. J. MARLEY.

WALKING 0R PROGRESSING TOY.

APPLICATION FIL ED APR. 14. 1917.

1 ,269,4=90. Patent ed June 11, 1918.

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WITNESSES INVENRJR Z;;w%%

UNITED STATES PATENT UFFICE.

ALBERT MURRAY, 01? BIRMINGHAM, AND GEORGE A. J. MARLEY, OF EDGBASTON,

- BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND.

WALKING OR PROGRESSING TOY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 14, 1917. Serial No. 162,199.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ALBERT MURRAY, of 16 Bristol road, Birmingham, England, woodworker, and GEORGE ANDREW J OHN MARLEY, of Summer road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, woodworker, both subjects of the King of Great Britain, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Walking or Progressing Toys, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention has reference to walking or progressing toys (such as toy horses or other animals) which are adapted to carry a child or other passenger seated thereon, and can be made to walk travel or progress along the floor or ground by the action of mecha nism which is inclosed in the body of the toy and is connected with the legs thereof; the said mechanism being operable by the seated rider.

A toy of this type has been proposed wherein the inclosed mechanism is operated from stirrups and is intended to actuate all four legs of the toy; supplementary mechanism being used for steering, but the pres ent invention consists in an improved and simplified toy wherein the walking or progressing action is obtained from one pair of legs only and the other legs may be employed for steering purposes.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents an elevation of a toy or mechanical horse constructed in accordance with our invention, in which the leg-actuating or propelling mechanism is geared to and operated from a pair of stirrups that are coupled by a strap passing over the back of the toy, and to which a vertical or up-and-down motion is imparted by the rider seated on the toy. In this figure, the stirrup connecting strap is partly broken away in order to show more clearly the arrangement of the system of levers whereby the walking motion is transmitted to the lower parts of the rear legs.

Fig. 2 is a back end view of the toy; the joint or articulation embodied in the lefthand rear leg being shown in section.

Fig. 3 is a cross section of Fig. 1 on the dotted line :v.

Fig. 4 (Sheet 2) is a section of Fig. 1 taken on the dotted line- :0 and showing the arrangement of the steering or directing gear.

Fig. 5 shows a plan of a part of the steering gear.

F Fig. 6 is a section on the dotted line m I Fig. 7 is a detail view, on an enlarged scale, of one of the spring-mounted runners or rollers which are carried at the lower ends of the movable sections of the rear legs, and in which one-way clutches are embodied for the purpose hereinafter explained.

Fig. 8 is a horizontal section of Fig. 7 taken on the dotted line 00 Fig. 9 is anelevation of a part of the toy showing a further modification.

Fig. 10 is a cross-section on the dotted line 02*, Fig. 9. p

The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the said Figs. 1 to 8.

In this toy, the body a and head I) of the toy are fashioned or built-up from suitablyshaped sections or carved or molded wood, papier-mach or the like, or from sheet metal stampings, to represent or imitate the body and head of a horse, and the front legs 0 and the upper parts 41 of the rear legs are rigidly incorporated in, or made fixtures with, the body, although the said legs themselves may be made up of screwed-together sections to provide for the location or fitting within same of parts of the propelling and steering mechanism which, as far as possible, are contained and concealed within the toy.

The back of the animal is provided with a saddle (not shown in the drawings) to serve as a seat for the rider, and adjacent to this saddle, a pair of stirrups e are arranged so that the rider can place his feet therein; these stirrups being connected or coupled to one another by a leather or strap 6 that passes over or around the back of the toy (see Figs. 1 and 2) and they are also connected with the propelling mechanism, so as to provide for the actuation of the latter when the rider depresses the stirrups alternately by a vertical pedaling or up and-down motion. Each stirrup is con? pled, by an arrangement of links 7, f to the forward end of a long and suitably-shaped lever g which is mainly contained within the hollowed-out parts of the body of the toy and within the fixed or stationary upper portion 03 of a back leg, while the rearward end 9 of each lever g is rigidly connected at g to the lower portion (Z of the corresponding back leg.

The said lower leg-sections (Z thus form short-arm extensions of the levers g, and the movable members constituted by said sec tions (Z andthe levers g are respectively fulcrumed or pivoted to the rigid upper legsections d by strong or substantial transverse joint-pins (Z (as shown in Figs. 1 and 2) which provide for their angular or rocking movement relatively to the body of the toy and in the longer direction of the same.

As regards the link f, 7 between the connected stirrups and the levers g, the links 7 which carry the stirrups and to which the forward extremities of the levers g are jointed at 9*, are jointed at their upper ends to the links f which are respectively keyed to the opposite extremities of a transverse pin F that works in a substantial bearing f fixed inside the body of the toy as clearly shown in Fig. 3; the whole arrangement of the stirrups and their connections, the link system f, 7, f and the levers g with their leg-extensions (Z being such that as each lever g is alternately depressed or caused to make a downward angular motion by the rider pushing down the corresponding stirrup, the said leg-section al functions in the manner hereinafter described to thrust or carry the body forward, while when the said lever is pulled upward (which is effected positively by the depression of the stirrup on the other side of the toy) a forward but idle angular movement is given to its said leg-section al this forward motion being imparted to each of the lower leg-sections alternately and at the same time that the other leg-section is being made use of to give the propelling thrust.

To enable the swinging lower portions of the back legs to impart the forward propelling thrust to the toy, they are each furnished, at their bottom ends, with small rollers or wheels 72. that are connected with the said legs through one-way clutches which permit the said rollers or wheels to rotate in the forward direction (z'. e. in the direction in which the toy is to be propelled) but look them against rotation in the other direction, while the peripheries of the rollers are furnished with tires k of rubber or the like material to insure that they will obtain a good grip or purchase on the ground when locked by their clutches. In the arrangement illustrated in the drawings, clutches of the roller type are shown interposed between the peripheries or movable outer parts If of the wheels and center or middle portions it which latter are anchored to the lower extremities of the leg sections by pins if, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, and the alternate depression of each stirrup tends to impart simultaneously a rearward angular motion to the movable part of the one rear leg and a forward angular motion to the working part of the other rear leg, but whereas the roller at the foot of the forwardly swinging or advancing leg is permitted to revolve forwardly by its clutch, the other roller, which tends to revolve in the rearward direction, is for the time being locked against rotation by its clutch and its compressible tire prevents the said roller skidding or sliding backward along the ground. Thus the lower end of the leg-member is, in effect, frictionally anchored to the ground, so that instead of the said leg-member itself actually swinging backward, it functions as a lever whose fulcrum is on the ground and thus gives a forward or propelling thrust to the other parts of the toy. Meanwhile, the forwardly swinging leg moves idly to a position in advance of the frictionally-anchored leg and when it has completed the prescribed movement, it becomes in turn anchored by its clutch and roller and takes up the work of thrusting on the toy while the other leg swings up by a step-forward movement.

Instead of interposing roller-type friction clutches between the peripheral parts of the driving-leg rollers and their stationary or non-revolving middle portions, one-way clutches of the pawl and ratchet type may be employed, in which case the pawls may be mounted on the legs and the ratchet elements are carried by, or embodied in, the rollers or wheels.

To provide for the steering of the toy by the seated rider during its forward progres sion, each of the front legs is hollowed out and fitted with rods 2' whose lower ends carry small steering wheels or rollers while their upper ends are respectively connected by suitable intermediate mechanism (such as that shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6) to a pair of levers 7a which are pivoted to the opposite sides of the head of the toy and are preferably fashioned so as to represent the cheeks of a brindle bit; these levers being connected, in turn to the ends of a pair of reins m, by the manipulation of which the rider is able to turn the steering wheels in any desired direction.

Figs. 1, 2, 7 and 8 illustrate a spring compensating means in connection with the rear rollers that may be used with the front rollers. The pins 75* which connect the nonrotary middle parts 71. of the rollers to the propelling legs are disposed forward of the center of the said parts k so that the whole roller can make an angular or rocking motion about the pins it while the compensating springs a are arranged in the manner shown in Figs. 7 and 8 between the propelling legs and the rollers. This arrangement of the compensating springs in connection with the back legs has been found to be more effective for preventing lateral sway of the body than applying springs to the front or steering legs as above described.

A modified or alternative mechanism for actuating the main levers is illustrated in elevation in Fig. 9 and in cross section on the dotted line a (Fig. 9) in Fig. 10. In this arrangement, the lever-gearing, instead of being worked by the up and down move ment of stirrups, is driven by rotary cranks 0 connected to a spindle 0 having its bearing in a bracket 0 attached to the underside of the body of the toy; the outer extremities of the said cranks being furnished with foot pedals 0 connected by links 7 to the oscillating leg-levers 9.

Having described our invention, what we desire to secure and claim by Letters Patent is 1. A walking or progressing mechanical toy in the form of an animal, comprising a body having rigid legs, external reciprocating devices on the body actuated by the user of the toy, levers mounted in the body and connected to said external reciprocating devices, angularly moving leg members associated with a part of said legs and having the said levers rigidly attached thereto, and rollers carried by said leg members and provided with one-way clutches.

2. A walking or progressing mechanical toy in the form of an animal, comprising a body having rigid legs, external reciprocating devices on the body actuated by the user of the toy, levers mounted in the body and connected to said external reciprocating devices, angularly movable leg members associated with a part of said legs and having the said levers rigidly attached thereto, rollers. carried by said leg members and provided with one-way clutches, and steering members associated with the remaining le s.

A walking or progressing mechanical toy in the form of an animal, comprising a body having rigid legs and seating means for a user, external driving devices operative by the feet of the user for actuating the toy, levers mounted in the body and connected to said external devices, movable leg members associated with a part of said rigid legs and having said levers rigidly attached thereto, the remaining rigid legs having steering members, rollers carried by the movable leg members and the steering members, and

mechanism operable by the user for controlling the steering members and directing the movements of the toy.

4:. A walking or progressing mechanical toy in the form of an animal, comprising a body having rigid legs, seating means for a user and a head, driving reins associated with the head, external driving devices for engagement by thefeet of the user for actuation of the toy, operating devices mounted in the body and connected to said external devices, movable leg members associated with a part of the legs and having the operating devices in the body rigidly secured thereto, steering members associated with the remaining part of the legs, mechanism between the steering members and the reins and controllable by the latter to direct the movement of the toy, and rollers carried by movable leg members and steering members and having compressible treads.

5. A walking or progressing mechanical toy in the form of an animal having a body with front and rear rigid legs, a head and a seating portion for a user in. rear of the head, driving reins associated with the head, external devices for engagement by the feet of the user for actuation of the toy, levers mounted in the body and operatively connected to said external devices, movable leg members for the rear legs and having the said levers rigidly secured thereto, steering members for the front legs, rods connected to the steering members and extending upwardly through the front legs, steering mechanism in the head of the animal to which both the rods and reins are connected, and surface engaging rollers carried by the leg and steering members.

6. A walking or progressing mechanical toy in the form of an animal, comprising a body having rigid legs, seating means for a .user and a head, driving reins associated with the head, external driving devices for engagement by the feet of the user for actuation of the toy, operating devices mounted in the body and connected to said external devices, movable leg members associated with a part of the legs and having the operating devices in the body rigidly secured thereto, steering members associated with the remaining part of the legs, mechanism be tween the steering members and the reins and controllable by the latter to direct the movement of the toy, and rollers carried by movable leg members and steering members and having compressible treads, compensating springs being mounted to coact with the rollers.

7. A walking or progressing mechanical toy having a body with front and rear leg supports and a seating portion for a user, driving devices externally located at oppo site sides of the body for engagement by the feet of the user when sitting on the body,

motion transmitting mechanism Within the In testimony whereof We have hereunto 10 body connected to the said driving devices, set our hands in presence of two subscribing movable leg members associated With the Witnesses.

rear leg supports and having parts of said ALBERT MURRAY motion transmitting mechanism rigidly se- G A J MARLEY cured thereto, steering devices associated with the front leg supports, and means con- Witnesses:

nected to the steering devices for operating ARTHUR SADLER,

the latter. E. J. REEVE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

